Blessed Escape: Piece One of The Puzzle
by SoSophieSays
Summary: AU. Tired of the pain that inevitably came from the magical world, Hermione steels herself, saves Harry one last time, and gives her soul to a genie in exchange for a fourth wish, happiness. Her happiness. And with one wish, she starts her adventure.
1. Chapter 1

She was fifteen.

She was fifteen years old and already, the world was falling apart around her. It was her fifth year of learning magic in a world that mentally abused her because she hadn't spent the ten years before learning it. It was her fifth year learning magic and her Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher wasn't teaching anyone how to defend themselves, and her Potions teacher was prejudiced against all but a fourth of the students, and a war was being waged behind the scenes, and nobody—_pretty much nobody, anyway_—would even accept the possibility of it all. It was her fifth year learning magic and her best friend was acting as if she didn't matter, as if she hadn't spent the last five years helping him and listening to him, as if she couldn't be trusted to know anything that actually mattered.

She was only fifteen years old and yet everything was crumbling around her and she didn't feel safe and she didn't feel accepted and she didn't feel loved and she just wished she'd told her parents on that day five years ago that she didn't want to be a part of that world—that magical, beautiful, hateful world.

She was only fifteen.

x.

"_Harry, just—just _tell me_—_"

"_No, Hermione, it's nothing, and I don't want to burden you, anyway_—"

And all she wants to say is that she's been burdened since long before she became your friend, Harry, but you not trusting her burdens her a thousand times more than if you'd just _trust _her and _tell _her and make her feel _useful, _damnit, because right now she feels anything but.

x.

"_Hem, hem_."

And she wants to _strangle _that hideous monstrosity of a toad called Umbridge, or maybe lead her to the centaurs, or to Grawp, or the acromantulas, or any other creature likely to hurt her. Because this demon she has to call Professor, this demon with her bloody pens and mewing kittens and _stupid _Minister—yes, that's right, he's _stupid _because he's only in denial of Voldemort and _he's _the reason people don't respect Dumbledore, or listen to Harry, and _he's encouraging the Death Eaters, damn him!—_but Umbridge is worse with her sugar-coated venom as she draws your blood through words.

Now why would you desecrate the holiness of the written word, madam Undersecretary?

x.

She's only fifteen and she hates this world already.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: A huge thanks to EllaLewis, my first reviewer and follower, and to golojolo for favorite-ing. I'm glad you liked the beginning, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story. :)**

It was with a great deal of surprise that she found a genie's lamp within the Room of Requirement. She shouldn't have been so shocked, of course, knowing what the room was, but she was.

She'd come to the room on a day when there was no meet with one thing on her mind—happiness. Happiness for Harry, for Ron, for the whole Weasley family, for Neville, for Sirius, for Remus… for her. At the moment, happiness seemed practically inaccessible, but it was the one thing she could think about—after the war, would there be any left?

And then the room gave it to her—a beautiful genie's lamp, on a pedestal in the midst of silk curtains and gorgeous pseudo-light. It was golden and shining, sitting on its pedestal as if it belonged there. There it was—her happiness. No, no. _Their _happiness.

x.

She'd had the lamp for a whole three weeks and she hadn't yet rubbed it. Did she feel guilty about it? Yes, very. She felt awful about it. She had, in her hands—or more accurately, hidden under her pillow—the power to end the war, to save Harry from more pain, to help others, to stop Voldemort… and yet, fear kept her from rubbing it and summoning the genie within.

How did she even get into Gryffindor, if she couldn't find the courage to find happiness?

x.

In the end, it took an accident to summon the genie. She'd been holding it in her hands in the middle of the night when Parvati made a loud snorting noise and scared Hermione. The lamp flew into the air and Hermione dove to catch it, and her hands slipped across the surface as she did so.

Surprisingly, the appearance of the genie was not nearly as loud or eccentric as she'd expected. Instead, before her appeared an incredibly handsome man with his legs crossed on the floor.

"I was wondering how long it would take you," he said to her softly, then grinned. His teeth were perfect. "You've been holding on to that lamp for so long, I was starting to wonder if you ever _would._"

She stared at him for a moment awkwardly before emitting a quiet "Hi."

His grin widened into a smile. "Hello, there."

She promptly fainted.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: To those of you who haven't been to my profile: yes, each chapter is between 370 and 400 words. I'm trying to make my writing style more flexible, so I've been experimenting with different things. Also, I have up through chapter 6 of this written now, and am merely skimming over them and reading them one last time before I post them, so they're going to be posted a bit spaced out. Just letting you know.**

**This chapter is dedicated once again to my lovely reviewers golojolo and EllaLewis and to the 72 anonymous readers my traffic stats insist I have.**

He was beautiful, her genie.

His hair jet black, in soft, riding in calm waves to his shoulders. His eyes light brown, gleaming with a mischievous, yet restrained curiosity. His skin lightly tanned, the color even throughout his hands and face, the only places skin even dared to peek out from under pure white clothes. Not an imperfection in sight.

She hated him nearly instantly for his perfection.

He adored her nearly instantly for her hatred.

He wouldn't leave her alone. He refused to stop staring at her as she tried to sleep. He sat on her desks as she tried to pay attention in classes. He leaned across her textbooks as she tried to study. He tried to follow her into the bathrooms, only for her to put up increasingly more _creative _wards the moment she stepped inside one. He constantly asked her questions—what do you want to wish for, m'lady? What is your heart's desire? Would you allow me to kiss you, or would you hit me? Why do you spend so much time inside, liven your skin, m'dear! What would it take for me to keep you, for you're adorable! Like a kitten—

In short, he was a pest.

Eventually, however, she made her first wish—_Destroy Voldemort. Please?_—to which the genie did with glee at finally being used (she thought this was rather odd, who embraced the idea of being _used_?—was he no better off than a house elf?). And, to _her _glee, he made it a very public affair, just as she'd forgotten to ask aloud. He made everyone, _everyone—_even the Minister, that spineless scumbag—know that Voldemort was alive and terrifying in 1995.

The monster walked across a sea of debris with a vindictive smile in front of dozens upon dozens of ministry employees as he twirled his wand slowly around his unnaturally bony fingers. Then, as the pathetic ministry shivered in fear, he fell, struck by a lightning-flash of energy no-one would ever find the source of.

She had hugged her genie in happiness when the news reached her.

He became more of a pest than ever.

She didn't mind quite as much as she thought she would. After all, he'd destroyed the object of her nightmares. She almost respected him now, even. Almost. He still tried to follow her to the bathrooms sometimes.

"_Pervert."_

"_Ah, I simply do not hide what I want, m'dame. Can you fault me with that?"_

"_Yes. Yes, I can. _Pervert._"_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone for your support. EllaLewis, once again I thank you for your reviews. BlueMusicLove, I thank you for subscribing :)**

**Before I move on, I'd like to tell everyone in advance that once this story is done, there will be many, many sequels. It will be a whole series and, hopefully, it will span in to many, many fandoms other than just Potterverse. So if you want Hermione to visit certain fandoms, or have certain things happen, just review or PM me and I'll be glad to do it for you (unless it's making Hermione have more than just "love interests". I am AWFUL at writing more than hints of romance. But I can put those hints in, if you'd like).**

The world didn't go according to plan after Voldemort was gone. Death Eaters still roamed, now more fanatic than ever. The Ministry was still corrupted. Umbridge was still in Hogwarts. Muggleborns were still discriminated against. House elves still went abused... Sirius was still called a traitor. Remus was still being refused jobs

And so, she made her second wish.

x.

_"Could you… could you…"_

"_Yes, m'dear?"_

"…_could you make the people of the wizarding world start wondering about the Ministry? Like, start doubting the way it runs things? Start petitioning for things to change that the Ministry won't do anything about? Maybe about discrimination against muggleborns, against werewolves, against other magical creatures… Maybe against cases where there was no trial when there should have been."_

"_Well, of course I can do that, m'lady. I _am _a genie after all."_

"…_would you? For my second wish?"_

x.

He did it with no subtlety, her genie. Started by bringing to light Sirius's innocence through a woman named Rita Skeeter—a woman she'd previously hated with only slightly less passion than the toad. She didn't hate her quite as much anymore, not with _that _article.

_The Ministry: Useful, Useless, or Lawless?_

Witches and wizards alike ate the story up, and soon, there was a column of the same title. And then there was a book. And then there were riots. Sirius went free. The Minister was tried for crimes, but dismissed due to ignorance and "manipulability." He resigned soon after. Umbridge quickly followed in resignation, but the children were fed up with her—someone told Skeeter of her detentions and soon she was off to spend "a while" in Askaban.

And Harry moved in with his godfather and his best friend, away from the Dursleys forevermore. And the world was alright.

But then, Dumbledore looked at her without the sparkle in his eye, without a smile. He knew, she knew. He knew her secret. And he told her, in his office when all of the portraits were off somewhere she didn't know of. Horcuxes. He didn't know how many.

And she sobbed—could it end so quickly, her peace? _Really_? No. It wasn't fair. She refused to believe it could. She rubbed her eyes and stood tall. She made her third wish.

x.

"_Destroy them. All of them."_


End file.
